Within the next two weeks, the alley will be completely canopied with hundreds of brightly colored umbrellas.

“It’s unorthodox but then it’s colorful. It’s whimsical,” said City Manager N. Enrique Martinez. “It’s inviting. I can imagine families and young people wanting to be underneath those umbrellas.”

Crews from the Redlands Quality of Life Department began installing brightly colored umbrellas above Orange Street Alley, Thursday, February 8, 2018, in downtown Redlands, Calif. Umbrellas will continue to be installed until the entire canopy, above the alley is completed. Eventually 420 umbrellas, according city officials, will hang above Orange Street Alley. (Staff photo by Rick Sforza, Redlands Daily Facts/SCNG)

Crews from the Redlands Quality of Life Department began installing brightly colored umbrellas above Orange Street Alley, Thursday, February 8, 2018, in downtown Redlands, Calif. Umbrellas will continue to be installed until the entire canopy, above the alley is completed. Eventually 420 umbrellas, according city officials, will hang above Orange Street Alley. (Staff photo by Rick Sforza, Redlands Daily Facts/SCNG)

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Crews from the Redlands Quality of Life Department began installing brightly colored umbrellas above Orange Street Alley, Thursday, February 8, 2018, in downtown Redlands, Calif. Umbrellas will continue to be installed until the entire canopy, above the alley is completed. Eventually 420 umbrellas, according city officials, will hang above Orange Street Alley. (Staff photo by Rick Sforza, Redlands Daily Facts/SCNG)

Oliver Jaquez, 3, left and his father Johnny Jaquez, both of Redlands, Calif., pose for a photo with a host of umbrellas above their heads Thursday, February 8, 2018 in Orange Street Alley. Crews from the Redlands Quality of Life Department began installing brightly colored umbrellas above Orange Street Alley, Thursday, February 8, 2018, in downtown Redlands, Calif. Umbrellas will continue to be installed until the entire canopy, above the alley is completed. Eventually 420 umbrellas, according city officials, will hang above Orange Street Alley. (Staff photo by Rick Sforza, Redlands Daily Facts/SCNG)

Crews from the Redlands Quality of Life Department began installing brightly colored umbrellas above Orange Street Alley, Thursday, February 8, 2018, in downtown Redlands, Calif. Umbrellas will continue to be installed until the entire canopy, above the alley is completed. Eventually 420 umbrellas, according city officials, will hang above Orange Street Alley. (Staff photo by Rick Sforza, Redlands Daily Facts/SCNG)

Crews from the Redlands Quality of Life Department began installing brightly colored umbrellas above Orange Street Alley, Thursday, February 8, 2018, in downtown Redlands, Calif. Umbrellas will continue to be installed until the entire canopy, above the alley is completed. Eventually 420 umbrellas, according city officials, will hang above Orange Street Alley. (Staff photo by Rick Sforza, Redlands Daily Facts/SCNG)

Crews from the Redlands Quality of Life Department began installing brightly colored umbrellas above Orange Street Alley, Thursday, February 8, 2018, in downtown Redlands, Calif. Umbrellas will continue to be installed until the entire canopy, above the alley is completed. Eventually 420 umbrellas, according city officials, will hang above Orange Street Alley. (Staff photo by Rick Sforza, Redlands Daily Facts/SCNG)

Tori Hodson, 22, of Redlands, holds her 7-month-old daughter, Harper Harman, aloft under a canopy of umbrellas above Orange Street Alley in Redlands, Calif., Thursday, February 8, 2018. Crews from the Redlands Quality of Life Department began installing brightly colored umbrellas earlier in day. Umbrellas will continue to be installed until the entire canopy, above the alley is completed. Eventually 420 umbrellas, according city officials, will hang above Orange Street Alley. (Staff photo by Rick Sforza, Redlands Daily Facts/SCNG)

Crews from the Redlands Quality of Life Department began installing brightly colored umbrellas above Orange Street Alley, Thursday, February 8, 2018, in downtown Redlands, Calif. Umbrellas will continue to be installed until the entire canopy, above the alley is completed. Eventually 420 umbrellas, according city officials, will hang above Orange Street Alley. (Staff photo by Rick Sforza, Redlands Daily Facts/SCNG)

Crews from the Redlands Quality of Life Department began installing brightly colored umbrellas above Orange Street Alley, Thursday, February 8, 2018, in downtown Redlands, Calif. Umbrellas will continue to be installed until the entire canopy, above the alley is completed. Eventually 420 umbrellas, according city officials, will hang above Orange Street Alley. (Staff photo by Rick Sforza, Redlands Daily Facts/SCNG)

Crews from the Redlands Quality of Life Department began installing brightly colored umbrellas above Orange Street Alley, Thursday, February 8, 2018, in downtown Redlands, Calif. Umbrellas will continue to be installed until the entire canopy, above the alley is completed. Eventually 420 umbrellas, according city officials, will hang above Orange Street Alley. (Staff photo by Rick Sforza, Redlands Daily Facts/SCNG)

Luke Felando, 24, of Redlands, Calif., stares upward toward a canopy of umbrellas above Orange Street Alley in Redlands, Calif., Thursday, February 8, 2018. Crews from the Redlands Quality of Life Department began installing brightly colored umbrellas earlier in day. Umbrellas will continue to be installed until the entire canopy, above the alley is completed. Eventually 420 umbrellas, according city officials, will hang above Orange Street Alley. (Staff photo by Rick Sforza, Redlands Daily Facts/SCNG)

Crews from the Redlands Quality of Life Department began installing brightly colored umbrellas above Orange Street Alley, Thursday, February 8, 2018, in downtown Redlands, Calif. Umbrellas will continue to be installed until the entire canopy, above the alley is completed. Eventually 420 umbrellas, according city officials, will hang above Orange Street Alley. (Staff photo by Rick Sforza, Redlands Daily Facts/SCNG)

A man takes a photo of umbrellas above Orange Street Alley in Redlands Calif., Thursday, February 8, 2018. Crews from the Redlands Quality of Life Department began installing the brightly colored umbrellas above the alley earlier in the day. The umbrellas will continue to be installed until the entire canopy, above the alley is completed. Eventually 420 umbrellas, according city officials, will hang above Orange Street Alley. (Staff photo by Rick Sforza, Redlands Daily Facts/SCNG)

City crews began installing the umbrellas this week. By the time they’re finished with the work, there will be 420 blue, yellow, green and pink umbrellas hanging above the alley.

Thursday and Friday, passersby charmed by the first phase of the installment already were capturing images of the umbrellas with their cameras and cell phones.

Martinez took the idea to city staff, who took ownership of the project. Staff installed poles and cables to hang the umbrellas.

“Once Enrique showed us the photo and told us what he wanted, we ordered the poles from a local fabrication company,” said Chris Boatman, the city’s Quality of Life director. “Our staff did all the work mounting them, powder coating them so it was very minimal cost. I think it was a few thousand dollars total.”

Boatman said staff looked around a while to find the right umbrellas.

“We tried to select umbrellas that we could easily remove and mount for maintenance purposes moving forward,” Boatman said.

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